Biscotti's Foccacia | Ligurian Focaccia di Recco
The recipe
Total Cooking Time: 4 hours | Serves: 6 people
This recipe hails from Kwang’s Kitchen talking with the pizza chef of the famous Biscotti Restaurant at Anantara Siam Bangkok. Many executive chefs has change but the focaccia recipe remains. It is known to many as focaccia with mascarpone cheese and truffle oil.
Crust ingredients (6 crust)
1.5 tsp instant dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1/4 cup semolina
1 tsp salt
6 tbsp olive oil
2.5 cups 00 flour
flour for dusting
Making the crust
Mix yeast and warm water together
Add semolina, salt, and 2 tbsp olive oil, mix well
Add 2.5 cup of 00 flour, mix until the dough is pretty stiff
Knead the dough, using the remaining flour to dust the surface
Add 1 tbsp after you need the dough for 2 minutes. Repeat 2 more times
Place the dough into a bowl and coat with the remaining 1 tbsp olive oil
Cover the dough and let the dough rise for 2 hours
Divide into 4 portion
Roll out 4 pizza crust, keep dusting the surface with flour
Let the crust sit for at least 1.5 hours
Filling ingredients (3 Portions)
500g mascarpone cheese
2 tbsp parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp salt
1.5 mozzarella cheese
1.5 provolone cheese
1/2 parmesan cheese
Making the filling: Flavor mascarpone cheese with 2 tbsp parmesan, salt, and truffle oil
Topping
Chives
Truffle oil
Salt & pepper
Assembly
Place one crust on pizza stone
Add mascarpone mixture
Place another crust on the top
Heat your grill to 400 to 450f (200-250c)
Total cook time is about 10 minutes
Half way through lift up the top crust to mix the cheese (optional)
Nutritional Breakdown (per Serving)
Below is an approximate nutritional breakdown for one serving of focaccia (about one slice, ~1/12 of a standard tray). Keep in mind values can vary with ingredients and portion size. This breakdown focuses on macronutrients and key micronutrients:
Calories: ~143 kcal
Carbohydrates: ~21 g (including ~1 g fiber, ~1 g sugars)
Protein: ~3 g
Total Fat: ~5 g (of which Saturated Fat ~1 g)
Cholesterol: ~1 mg (focaccia is virtually cholesterol-free unless topped with cheese/meat)
Sodium: ~278 mg
Potassium: ~97 mg
Vitamin A: ~8 IU
Vitamin C: ~2 mg
Calcium: ~7 mg
Iron: ~2 mg
This profile reflects a basic rosemary focaccia made with olive oil. It is a carbohydrate-rich food (bread product) with moderate fat from the olive oil, and small amounts of protein. The bread contributes a modest amount of minerals like iron and a little potassium. If you incorporate additions like cheese or olives, expect the calories, fat, and sodium to increase. For instance, a cheese-stuffed focaccia can reach about 360 calories and 16 g fat per serving, along with higher protein and sodium due to the filling. Overall, focaccia can be enjoyed in moderation as part of a balanced diet, providing energy-giving carbs and some healthy fats from olive oil.
Traditional and Stuffed Focaccia Variations
To put Biscotti’s focaccia in perspective, here are a few similar recipes and regional variations, from classic preparations to creative stuffed breads:
Classic Focaccia Genovese: Hailing from Genoa in Liguria, northern Italy, this is often considered the “platonic ideal” of focaccia. It’s a plush yeasted bread with an open crumb, liberally doused in olive oil and coarse salt, and baked to golden perfection. Simplicity is key – just good flour, water, olive oil, yeast, and salt create an unbelievably fragrant and savory bread. Some bakers add a unique step of pouring a salt-water brine over the dough before the final rise, which soaks into the dimples. This brine technique (famously used in Samin Nosrat’s Ligurian focaccia) yields a pleasantly crunchy, well-seasoned crust after baking. The result is a focaccia that’s lightly crisp on the outside, soft and olive-oil-laced inside, and distinctly rich in olive oil flavor.
Ligurian Focaccia di Recco (Cheese-Filled): A specialty of the town of Recco on the Ligurian coast, this focaccia variation is quite different from the leavened, airy type. It’s an unleavened flatbread made of two cracker-thin layers of dough filled with creamy fresh cheese (traditionally stracchino or crescenza). The dough, made very supple with a higher proportion of olive oil, is stretched paper-thin, encasing dollops of cheese, then sealed and baked quickly at high heat. The focaccia comes out crisp and flaky on the outside with a gooey, melted cheese center. It’s usually served hot from the oven, sometimes cut into strips. Focaccia di Recco offers a totally different textural experience – delicate and crispy, yet richly cheesy – showing the range of what “focaccia” can be.
Three-Cheese Stuffed Focaccia: Modern takes on stuffed focaccia combine the concept of a filled bread with the traditional risen dough. For example, an Italian recipe by Deborah Mele folds a mixture of three cheeses (mozzarella, Gorgonzola dolce, and Parmesan) along with fresh basil between two layers of standard focaccia dough italianfoodforever.com. The edges are crimped to seal in the filling, and the top is dimpled and drizzled with olive oil and rosemary like usual. This bakes into a hearty bread that’s almost a self-contained sandwich. As Mele notes, you can stuff focaccia with anything your imagination allows – from sautéed vegetables to cured meats – turning a simple snack bread into a satisfying meal. The key is to ensure the filling is not too wet and to seal the dough well so that the layers don’t burst apart in the oven.
Herb and Vegetable Stuffed Focaccia (Jamie Oliver’s variation): Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver created a stuffed focaccia inspired by Italian country cooking that is filled with garlicky broad beans, fresh herbs, lemon zest, and cheese – a bright, savory filling. His recipe (from Jamie Cooks Italy) uses a standard focaccia dough, which is split and packed with a mixture of smashed fava beans (broad beans) sautéed with garlic, pecorino or Parmesan cheese, olive oil, and herbs like mint or basil, then baked until the bread is pillowy and the filling is warm and fragrant. This kind of variation shows how versatile focaccia can be. You get the crisp crust and soft crumb of focaccia along with a flavorful vegetable-centric stuffing – almost like a filled flatbread sandwich. It’s an excellent way to turn focaccia into a more substantial dish, and it delivers a burst of fresh seasonal flavors in each bite.
Enhancing Flavor
Use Extra-Virgin Olive Oil: Drizzle generously before, during, and after baking for richness and crispness.
Add Woody Herbs: Infuse with rosemary, thyme, or oregano for deep aroma. Avoid delicate herbs like basil—add them after baking.
Garlic & Aromatics: Roast garlic in the dough for sweetness; sun-dried tomatoes and olives add bursts of flavor.
Flaky Sea Salt: Sprinkle on top for a crunchy, savory finish.
Boost with Malt: Swap sugar for barley malt syrup for better crust color and authentic bakery aroma.
